Posted on 01/08/2015 5:01:11 PM PST by Colofornian
Bill Donohue comments on reactions to his news release from yesterday [click here] on the murder of 12 people in Paris:
Being misrepresented is commonplace for public figures. Sometimes it reflects an honest misreading; other times it is a willful distortion. I don’t have the time now to address all of these instances, but I am hardly going to run from my position.
My position is this: the murderers are fully responsible for what they did and should be treated with the full force of the law. Nothing justifies the killing of these people. But this is not the whole of this issue.
The cartoonists, and all those associated with Charlie Hebdo, are no champions of freedom. Quite the opposite: their obscene portrayal of religious figures—so shocking that not a single TV station or mainstream newspaper would show them—represents an abuse of freedom.
Freedom of speech is not an end—it is a means to an end. For Americans, the end is nicely spelled out in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution: the goal is to “form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
No fair-minded reading of the Preamble suggests that it was written to facilitate the right to intentionally and persistently insult people of faith with scatological commentary. Moreover, the purpose of free speech is political discourse: it exists to protect the right of men and women to agree and disagree about the makings of the good society.
Let’s forget about legalities. As I have said countless times, everyone has a legal right to insult my religion (or the religion of others), but no one has a moral right to do so. Can we please have this conversation, along with what to do about Muslim barbarians who kill because they are offended?
Let’s forget about legalities. As I have said countless times, everyone has a legal right to insult my religion (or the religion of others), but no one has a moral right to do so. Can we please have this conversation, along with what to do about Muslim barbarians who kill because they are offended?
Okay, aren't there any Catholics around who could give Bill the counsel that the "perfect time" to "have this conversation" and to issue diatribes vs. Charlie Hebdo's content of insult wasn't to wait until this very week?
And, in fact, that IF Bill Donohue actually knew about all content such as...
...anti-Catholicism published by Charlie Hebdo (masturbating nuns; the Pope linked to condoms, etc.)...
...anti-Judaism/anti-Jesus (Dec. 20 cover was of Mary giving birth to a "pig-nosed" Jesus)
(For above, see: Charlie Hebdo's Most Controversial Covers: French Satirical Magazine...Equal-Opportunity Offender)...
...THAT...it winds up being quite problematic that Bill Donohue and his Catholic League didn't respond to such insults until January 2015, that no wonder he's receiving feedback of engaging in moral equivalency and blaming the victims?
Bill, if ye knew about Charlie Hebdo's insults before 2015, where are your printed diatribes against them?
Why wait until this moment to provide seeming moral cover to violent Islamic terrorists?
Another reason for me to not like catholics
catholics, mormons and votta jehova are not true christians in my view
Even true Christians aren’t true enough.
It's not. They kill whomever the wish. All you have to be is an "infidel".
It's not about anyone's right to draw a cartoon. It's about a religious war.
If we Catholics are not Christians..what are we?
I believe Jesus is the son of God and He is my savior.
I also believe you are an idiot.
well mormons and votta jehova have books that supersede the bible thats why i dont view them as christians
I disagree with this statement entirely, but it should be noted that Hedbo is an avowed left wing publication, and they are proud to be as such.
With that in mind, who do you think they voted for in the last elections? Candidates who wanted to STOP Islamic immigration? I think not.
If Muslims shot up MSNBC studios, still horrible that people are being killed by nutjobs in service of a false prophet, but you get what you vote for.
Message to Europeans: Vote socialist = get decapitated
The only reason this moron is saying this is because it involved murder. If there had been no murders, he wouldn’t make his stupid claim about the cartoonists “perverting freedom.”
Donohue wants to have it both ways, that’s all. Very thin skinned about criticism. A jerk.
It’s civilization versus savagery. If Charlie Hebdo mocks Christianity, that’s their problem, not mine. Ironically, it’s our Western Civilization, based on Judeo-Christian values, that allowed them to indulge their outrageousness without fear of deadly reprisals.
Until yesterday. Islam is barbarism at war with civilized society, & stupid arrogant Donohue can’t grasp this.
Bill Donohue is wrong again when he says, “As I have said countless times, everyone has a legal right to insult my religion (or the religion of others), but no one has a moral right to do so.”
The reason is that in a non-theocratic society, there is no such thing as a “moral right”. A “moral right” must have a basis in religion and the various religions contradict each other. In Christianitythere is no “moral right” to do anything that violates the 10 Commandments. There is no “moral right” to be a Muslim, a Buddhist, an Atheist or even a Jew. In a multi-religious society there are only legal rights. And the legal right to speech extends to each religion negating the other, and to contradict every moral teaching of any religion and that right must be respected by everyone of all religions even if they disagree with the content of such speech. When you limit your support of free speech to a “moral right” then you are limiting speech to the tenets of one religion. If you thereby negate other religions, then they negate yours and then no one has any rights.
The church founded by Jesus Christ is not Christian?
Donohue is one Catholic out of hundreds of millions.
I’m sure there is at least one person in your denomination that says truly idiotic things also.
alright i apologize im a little rilled up over this
i went too far im sorry, im very rilled up over this whole mess in french
Oh, he grasps this. Catholics have cozied up to Muslims and he doesn’t DARE speak out. Well, THAT and he’s probably SKEERED of them.
Go kiss a Koran, Billy.
Who outside France heard of Charlie Hebdo before yesterday? If Donahue had written about them earlier it would have meant nothing to more than maybe a few dozen Americans.
That doesn’t make his commentary yesterday any less offensive, but to answer your question, there would have been no reason to write about Charlie Hebdo before the slaughter.
Every "enlightened" media outlet is framing it as a "freedom of speech" issue, which is a complete ruse. It wouldn't surprise me if the disinformation arose from within the jihad itself, except I can't possibly ascribe that much cleverness to them.
Okay,I really don’t like snake handling crackas like you,so go vent yourself!
I thought he was going to say he was misquoted, instead he made it worse.
I don’t see a problem with making fun of an evil pedophile and murderer. I might be against making fun of Mohammed, if the moderate Muslims would condemn the Jihadist, but they mostly keep quiet or downright agree with the extremists.
We need to stop kowtowing to this cult and tell it like it is.
Oh, RwI may be a snake handler, but anyone who lumps Catholics with Mormons & Jehovah’s Witnesses also thinks we’re a bunch of Mary-worshipping drunks who never opened a Bible in our lives.
Donohue is a loudmouth who speaks for himself only.
Just religious people...
I believe Jesus is the son of God and He is my savior.
You pope says it's not necessary to believe that to be a Catholic...So your pope's definition of a Christian does not line up with the words of God in the scriptures...So saying Catholics are Christians is meaningless...
There are Catholics who are Christians and there are Catholics who are not...And I wouldn't bet a lot of money on your pope...
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